Jack Bauer

The Fox network unveiled its new line of fall shows, including “Running Wilde,” a sitcom starring Arnett (“Arrested Development”) as a rich playboy trying to woo his high school sweetheart (Russell). It’s from creator Mitchell Hurwitz, the demented mind behind “Arrested Development.”

Also on the comedy front is “Raising Hope,” a show about a single dad raising his baby while living with his crazy parents. The mother is played by Leachman.

Fox has some big holes to fill with “24” calling it quits and Cowell leaving “Idol,” which took a ratings hit this season. The network will be looking to expand on the success of freshman hit “Glee,” which will air at 8 p.m. Tuesdays during the fall and move to 9 p.m. Wednesdays when “Idol” returns in January. Fox also announced that “Glee” will be plopped into the highly coveted post-Super Bowl slot when the big game airs in February.

The only other new series in the Fox fall lineup is “Lonestar,” a prime-time soap set in Texas oil country. The network conceded that its biggest new drama, Steven Spielberg’s “Terra Nova,” won’t be ready until midseason. It’s a sci-fi series that follows a family from 2149 as it goes back to prehistoric time to save the Earth.

It’s January — a time when television goes through an annual rebirth. But this midseason will be more eventful than usual. Not only do we have the Winter Olympics coming on NBC, we’ve got “American Idol” returning with a new judge in Ellen DeGeneres. Also on tap: The final season of “Lost” and a fresh new day for “24,” which moves action hero Jack Bauer to New York. On cable, “Damages,” “Big Love” and “Breaking Bad” are all returning with new seasons.

There are also several interesting new programs in the pipeline. I’m looking forward to HBO’s WWII miniseries, “The Pacific,” from Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. Also, there’s a bit of a “Gilmore Girls” vibe in the new CW drama, “Life Unexpected.”

For a full rundown on the midseason, with premiere dates, etc., click here.

These days, whenever you open a newspaper, you get smacked with a great big misery pie in the face. Layoffs. Foreclosures. Wall Street meltdowns. The Oakland Raiders. On and on it goes.

And turning to television doesn’t often ease the gloom. The season so far has been a clunker. Ratings are down and viewer unrest is rampant. Meanwhile, quality shows such as “Pushing Daisies” get killed off, while dopey debacles like “Knight Rider” inexplicably live on. Bah, humbug.

But why continue to dwell on failure and mediocrity? After all, the holiday season is upon us â€” a time for comfort and joy. And so we’ve decided to put the depress-o-rama temporarily on hold and devote this post to nothing but positive vibes.

Here, then, are some reasons to smile and to hope â€” some reasons why we continue to love TV:

— The good guys still prevail. And in difficult times, that’s apparently what we want to see. Thus, while other networks struggle, CBS is thriving with its “comfort-food” menu of basic procedural cop shows both old (the “CSI” franchise) and new (“The Mentalist”).

— HBO has put the complete seasons of “The Sopranos,” “Deadwood” and “The Wire” out on DVD in snazzy sets with plenty of extras. These shows represent some of the best television ever â€” and, yes, they would look great under the tree.

— The value of sitcoms may be plunging faster than the stock market, but “The Big Bang Theory” is proof that the genre still has plenty of pop in it.

— Aussie actor John Noble continues to make Walter Bishop, his loopy-yet-creepy mad scientist on “Fringe,” one of the most entertaining new characters of the season.

There are some TV viewers who aren’t completely happy unless Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) is running around like a sleep-deprived madman, blowing things up and doling out bloody beatdowns to bad guys until they spit teeth. For these “24” junkies, there just isn’t enough Jack Bauer in this world.

So you can imagine the anguish they felt when, due to the writers strike, Jack and his turbocharged “24” went AWOL last January. What, an entire season without around-the-clock gunplay and double-crosses? In some ways it must have felt like having to endure one of the show’s infamous torture sequences.

Fortunately, the wily programmers at Fox recognized the inhumanity of it all. So instead of forcing fans to wait until January for a new season of “24,” they’re serving up a tasty little appetizer tonight in the form of a two-hour movie called “24: Redemption.” And if it just happens to get viewers stoked for Season 7, well then, all the better.

The film picks up some time after Season 6, with our macho-man hero living in the make-believe African country of Sangala. There, he works as a missionary, alongside an old special-ops buddy (Robert Carlyle) at a school for young boys.

Get set for more pulse-pounding action and ear-splitting renditions as “24” and “American Idol” return to Fox in January.

The network has announced that Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) will be back on duty beginning with a special two-night, four-hour event Sunday, Jan. 11 and Monday, Jan. 12. The series, returning for its seventh season, celebrates its milestone 150th episode during the fourth hour.

Making its time period premiere Monday, Jan. 19 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), “24” will unfold without interruption through the season finale in May. Set in Washington, D.C., â€œDay Sevenâ€ opens with CTU dismantled and Bauer on trial. His day takes an unexpected turn when former colleague Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard) returns after being presumed dead. Meanwhile, President Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones) leads the country as the first female president (Sorry, Hillary and Sarah) while an “unthinkable national security crisis” erupts.

Setting the stage for these events is “24: Redemption,” the two-hour movie shot on location in South Africa and Los Angeles that bridges the gap between Seasons Six and Seven. It airs Sunday, Nov. 23.

Television’s No. 1 show, “American Idol,” is set to launch its eighth season with a two-night, four-hour premiere on Jan. 13 and 14. The regular gang of Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul return, along with new judge Kara DioGuardi.

The writers strike was a gigantic pain in the butt for a number of reasons, but perhaps chief among them: “24” fans were deprived of seeing Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) going ballistic on the bad guys.

“24,” the series still won’t return to the air until next January, but to whet some appetites and get the adrenaline pumping, Fox will air a two-hour “24” prequel movie on Nov. 23.

Shot on location in South Africa, the film has our man Jack coping with an international crisis. Meanwhile, here at home the nation prepares for a new female president — played by Cherry Jones — on inauguration day. Taking place just a few months before the new day dawns, the prequel will set the stage for Season 7. Continue Reading →

Thanks to the writers’ strike, “24” fans were forced to go through an entire season without their Jack Bauer-adrenaline fix. Now, Fox is throwing viewers a bone in the form of a “24” prequel movie.

The film, which will air Nov. 23, is basically something to tide us over until “24” returns to the air for Day 7 next January. Shot on location in South Africa, it has our man Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) coping with an international crisis, while here at home the nation prepares for a new female president on inauguration day. Taking place just a few months before the new day dawns, the prequel will “set the stage and raise the stakes for Season 7.” Continue Reading →